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When you swapping tires for

When you swapping tires for winter tires, do you have to have pressure sensors in them? I am considering buying a set of winter tires for my 2009 Prius (after sliding terribly on all seasons), but I don't want to pay extra $300 for the sensors. Are they absolutely necessary or will just the "check pressure" light stay on all winter?

The pressure sensors are

The pressure sensors are built into the valve stem mounted on the tire rim. IF you have a shop mount your snowtires on the SAME RIMS, then the pressure sensor stays where it is.

IF your snowtires run on a DIFFERENT pressure than the "summer" tires, you will have to "reset" the car's tire pressure computer.

It's a quick single step.

FIRST: Check all four tires and make sure that they DO HAVE proper inflation.

Under the steering wheel, on the bottom edge of the dashboard is a button labeled Tire Pressure Sensor. With the car OFF, press and hold the button, as you start the car. Hold the button down until the "tire pressure" warning light on the dash blinks three times.

Your car's computer now recognizes the "current" tire inflation in each tire as "normal".

DO NOT RESET the tire pressure sensor if any tire is above or below proper pressure!!!!

I just helped my girlfriend

I just helped my girlfriend retrieve her Prius from a sloped, snow-covered parking lot. The car simply would not move because the traction control would cut the power and/or apply the brakes every time a wheel would slip. If I could have shut the traction control off there is no doubt in my mind I could have powered the car out, but as it was we had to put chains on just to get it out of the parking lot (the roads were plowed but the lot was not). I find it just incredible that there is no override feature! I hate to even let her drive it until the snow melts.

I drive a 2006 Prius and I

I drive a 2006 Prius and I live in Brooklyn, NY, and we just had a blizzard about a week ago. I drove to a wedding on the night of the blizzard, I got there at 7pm, there were already snow on streets, just not alot, roads were still clear, i made it there rather easily. 11pm the wedding ceremony ended, and the streets were covered in snow, alot of snow about 10 inches on the road. My Prius was stranded, couldnt move it at all, we manually pushed it out to the main road, but it just couldnt go anywhere. we ended up pushing it back to the parking spot. it was brutal, we couldnt move at all. Front wheel drive was completely dead, i couldnt get grip on the anything, no traction at all. i pedalled the accelerator to the buttom....the tires wouldnt even spin at times, it was bad! what should i do if theres a heavy snow storm next time, how should i prepare for such actions? should i get winter tires?

i read over some of the comments people left here, im just confused how they are able to drive through snow that easily. My prius is definitely not build for snowstorms.

I live in Denver and ski

I live in Denver and ski Vail on a regular basis. I've been surprised at how well my 2010 Prius does on it's standard Yokohama tires. Granted, they're new and I doubt they will be as good next season. In general, the biggest danger when driving in storms is not being able to stop when going down hill. The "Brake" gear of the Prius seems to reduces this risk by gently slowing the car down whenever you take your foot off the accelerator. The traction control light is also helpful, as it warns me that the tires are slipping so I should relax your touch on the accelerator/steering wheel/brakes a little bit. So much of snow driving is in the feel of the car, and the combination of the "brake" gear and traction control light really gives me a good feel that enables me to drive it safely.

Just get one of those

Just get one of those magnetic ones and stick it to the oil pan! I would suggest using a few cable ties to tie the wire up and that will help in case the heater were to fall off. You would not lose the heater...

I have a 2007 Prius and we

I have a 2007 Prius and we are experiencing the worst winter in MN in a long time. Feet and feet of snow. It's piled up so high at street corners you can't see trucks coming, let alone cars! So... my Prius stinks in this weather. Funny thing is last winter, yeah it wasn't so bad, but last winter I don't remember having so many problems. I think it has to do with the OEM tires and the short tread life. I think they are slicker this year and now performing horrid. And I mean HORRID. I don't even like to have my kids in the car right now when there is anything on the roads. So... I'm in the market this week for new all weather tires and looking at the Michelin Hydro Edge and the Hankook Optimo H727, both highly regarded by Prius drivers on other forums with the same problems. My issue is finding the right size, in either of these! Anyone have any experience with either of these tires?

It's me again with an

It's me again with an update.

I got new tires right after my original post. It seemed to help the slipping and none stopping issue for a while. Plus the gas mileage plummeted after the new tires.

This year has been the snowiest in ages. I have seen that yellow traction control like too many times. My mantra now is "never brake unless there is oncoming traffic, then throw it into B and pray." I think I may have mastered driving in the snow with using the Braking assist at every stop sign, stop light and on the crowed interstate. I don't think that's the intended use for the Braking Assist, but it gets me stopped.

In December, I started test driving cars and then driving the Prius on the same route. The 2010 Prius performed decently in the snow but mine (2007) was terrible.